You know what I forgot to do? I was suppose report back on what I thought of Kill Cam, an interactive horror story that I checked out over a few weeks. It was interesting to say the least. The live web cam turned into a webcam orgy of bored Australian nerds. The story did have a twist but was kind of predictable. To say the least it tried to hard but it did have it's moments. It also didn't go viral like I thought it would within the horror universe.
But you know what Kill Cam was missing?
Star power. A creative genius that had the imagination, funds and scope to make interactive horror on the web a real reality. That's when I stumbled upon Daniel Knauf's Bxx Haunted. Knauf is the creative mastermind behind HBO's Carnivale, Spartacus and Supernatural. So what's Bxx: Haunted? Well it's a non linear interactive movie which after watching the video below, I'm kind of intrigued.
Like a Choose Your Own Adventure tale, you get to choose which characters you want to follow, investigate rooms and check in on cams throughout an house. The story goes that a group of paranormal investigators become trapped in a house that's gone a little Poltergeisty. The Box Narrative is an interesting new way of storytelling and dammit, I'm pretty psyched. 6 characters in one house for 48 hours and we can take any path we want to reveal the narrative.
We're the filmmaker so to speak.
I'm all for new ways to watch horror and this is definitely the most creative gimmick I've seen in a while.
Full access will be available online 11:26 PM PST Friday 2/24 by invite only. Check out the teaser with Knauf and the trailers below. Also follow on Twitter.
A while back, I posted this article called "5 Social Media Sites that would reinvent the horror movie". I asked why horror movies don't use Twitter, FourSquare, YouTube, Facebook and ARG's more effectively. But now it seems the creators of KillCam Live have done just that. They're telling a horror narrative using YouTube and then for 72 hours give you a chance to interact with a character via a live cam, where YOU decide if the characters lives or dies by performing some sort of task (either creating a YouTube mashup or spreading the word about KillCam). This was totally under my radar until I read Dread Central's posts on the subject (here and here).
I've now watched all 5 episodes that are currently online via their YouTube channel and Monday, will go on their Live Cam where according to the press release:
Every Thursday through December, an episode will play out online, moving the story forward in typical narrative format. The following Monday through Thursday morning of each week will host a LIVE 72-hour period in which one of the students will be trapped in a room, awaiting their horrific fate. During that period, the audience will be able to interact with the character via video, Facebook, Twitter (@killcam_live) and online chat.
Interesting concept and I'm kind of excited to check out the live cam tomorrow. But I'm seeing a few problems so far. The "characters" haven't gotten many Twitter followers or Facebook fans. Clearly, I think this would be difficult in any circumstance when you've created a character profile for an ARG that not people are really aware of as of yet. With so many characters and subplots, there doesn't seem to be a central location for everybody to check out all the hidden pieces of the entire KillCam experience. I think it's a bit disorganized and as a noob it was difficult to find out what users did as they interacted with the characters. But I'll check out the live cam and join in to get the full experience.
I'll definitely report back on how it went.
Here's the press release. (via Dread Central) What do you all think of this?
With almost a million live views and counting, viewers from every continent have become part of a growing "Killmunity", participating in a LIVE interactive horror project. With viewers interacting directly with characters from the ongoing storyline, Killcam: Live is single-handedly changing the way that audiences are interacting with their entertainment.
Like a wildfire sweeping the net, Killcam: Live has set multiple records with streaming powerhouse Stickam , and website killcamlive.com has already called audiences to stand witness to the brutal killings of three of the story's main characters and one surprise death brought about by the cries of the interactive audience. With each new week more and more "super fans" are being born, transitioning from curious bystanders to actual characters in the story itself. Audience members have created entire blogs devoted to play-by-play breakdowns of the episodes and the characters in them.
Each week viewers participate in a "Cill Contest", ripping footage from the episodic narrative and live footage and cutting together their own recap videos to bring new viewers up-to-date. With four weeks left in the story, there's no telling what will come next. No one is safe! Not even the audience.
Killcam: Live is the transmedia brainchild of producer April Wade (@actoraprilwade) and filmmaker Canyon Prince (@canyonprince). Part digiseries, part interactive real time experience, and part feature film, Killcam: Live is the next stage in the evolution of storytelling. The project follows a group of students as they willingly agree to participate in a social experiment put on by their charming psychology professor Michael Grayson (played by J. Michael Briggs). The experiment is meant to explore the effects of current human dependence on technology and social media as the majority form of communication. During the ongoing experiment, the students will be isolated from each other and their only way to communicate with the outside world will be through social media. However, someone has a different agenda in mind as things start to take a turn for the worse.
Every Thursday through December, an episode will play out online, moving the story forward in typical narrative format. The following Monday through Thursday morning of each week will host a LIVE 72-hour period in which one of the students will be trapped in a room, awaiting their horrific fate. During that period, the audience will be able to interact with the character via video, Facebook, Twitter (@killcam_live) and online chat. The audience will be able to inform the characters (in real time) what is happening and possibly even aid them in their escape...or demise.
"We are looking to bring a heightened level of interactivity to the audience" says Wade, "and we feel that this projects is on the cutting edge of a new age of storytelling. As filmmakers today, we have an international platform for our stories that never existed before and I am thrilled to be experimenting with creative ways to use social media to shape the film."
Prince adds, "We're moving farther and farther away from a traditional storytelling model. As people continue to consume more and more content via mobile devices, it's detrimental and entirely counter-productive for us not to take advantage of the enormous opportunities that interactive multiple screen storytelling opens up." Wade and Prince, along with Spence Griffeth, who penned the screenplay, developed the concept and story. Shot on the Red MX One, the narrative episodic of the show, as well as the feature film wraparound, was helmed by John Darko, lensed by David M. Brewer and executive produced by Ahmed al Baker and Mohammad Il Abrahim. Recently Darko and Brewer worked closely together on James Wan and Leigh Whannell's feature film Insidious from Lionsgate.
The one thing that I've been not familiar with is the world of web horror and horror shorts. I've been trying to correct this with my ongoing The Shortround series where I put up shorts or web series that I think are pretty cool.
So after stumbling on a short by Drew Daywalt called Suicide Girl via Horrorland, I must say I was impressed. Once you see something you like, you start Fox Mulder-ing the investigation to see what else you can find. Thus, my extensive viewing of FEWDIO.com shorts on their YouTube Channel.
Color me floored. This is some good shit.
I am ecstatic that I found these videos and these are some of the best high quality, top notch horror shorts I've ever seen. All the shorts are masterfully produced, feature solid acting, eerie soundtrack and music, expert camera work and deliver the BOO! scares you won't forget.
First, go watch what caught my eye and you can be my Dana Scully and believe the hype I've been throwing at you.
Check out the Drew Daywalt's short called "Suicide Girl"
the jaded viewer says: For a 4 minute short, it packs a creepy punch right out of the park. Internet horror is usually hit or miss but this little short blends social tech with Ringu style madness. One of the best shorts I've seen.
Here are a few more shorts I think are standouts from the mass filmography of Fewdio Entertainment. Some of them are long slow burns that BOO! you, others are a minute or so of Twilight Zone twisty twizzler horror goodness.
You know what I forgot to do? I was suppose report back on what I thought of Kill Cam, an interactive horror story that I checked out over a few weeks. It was interesting to say the least. The live web cam turned into a webcam orgy of bored Australian nerds. The story did have a twist but was kind of predictable. To say the least it tried to hard but it did have it's moments. It also didn't go viral like I thought it would within the horror universe.
